Retirement age

People wait to cross a road near a construction site in Beijing on July 9, 2024.

China said Friday it would gradually raise its statutory retirement age, as the country grapples with a looming demographic crisis and an older population.

Hundreds of millions of people in China are set to enter old age in the coming decades while the birth rate dwindles dramatically.

German measures to incentivize workers to retire later come as governments across Europe are turning to pension reforms to address worker shortages and ease the burden on their pension systems.

Here is what other European countries are doing.

France

Today's teenagers, the children born during the debt crisis of the previous decade, who will enter the labor market around 2030, will be able to retire at the age of 72.5 having worked at least 38.5 years, according to the European Commission's 2024 Aging Report - Economic and Budgetary Projections for the EU Member-States 2022-2070. 

As of January 1, significant alterations have been implemented in the retirement age and mandatory service duration, impacting pension entitlements for both men and women.

In recent weeks France has been shaken by constant and violent demonstrations. The reason is the increase in the retirement age from 62 to 64. The reform is highly unpopular but is key to Emmanuel Macron's program, and what he was elected upon as president. It was not voted through in parliament, but Macron pushed it through by decree, as the Constitution allows.

Police used tear gas and water cannons against demonstrators on the Place de la Concorde in Paris, where around 7,000 people had gathered to protest pension reforms.

Amazing atmosphere in Paris last night as millions take to the streets to protest Macron raising the pension age with no vote. pic.twitter.com/8ykM2vj2LF

French workers angry over proposed changes to retirement rules are halting high-speed trains, disrupting electricity supplies and taking to the streets Thursday in a day of nationwide strikes and protests seen as a major test for Emmanuel Macron and his presidency.

French President Emmanuel Macron's government will try this week to revive his economic reform drive and score a major political victory by launching a pension reform in the face of fierce union opposition, Reuters reported today.

Over 2 million Turks will be able to retire at any time as long as they have worked for at least 7,200 days. Critics warn of the dangerous consequences of this pre-election move by President Erdogan, writes Deutsche Welle.

Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Ludovic Orban, the national leader of the National Liberal Party (PNL), said on Friday that, in his opinion, as long as people remain economically active they have to pay contributions and taxes, regardless of their age.